Sunday, September 30, 2012

We have bought a variety of baked goods at Costco and I thought the Tiramisu Cake that is on sale this month looked like a great thing to take over to our friend's house for a casual get-together. I have to say I was definitely pleased with the decision. Before we get in to how fun it was to eat, I have to say it does make for a pretty presentation.

As the cake is very rich, even a small slice, like the one below, is satisfying.

As for the reviews of the cake, my brother in law used the word "yummy" and I would concur with that. The flavors are balanced with the coffee/expresso flavor being well presented without being overpowering.

The combination of the textures were also very good with the smooth filling and topping contrasting and complimenting the cake.

The cake was very well received and we had some more again last night at my in-laws, who have also been won over by it. This cake is a good value at full price and an outstanding value on sale and I absolutely, positively recommend it without hesitation.

Monday, September 10, 2012

Many of the readers of this blog will know that we are big fans of quinoa. It is nutritious, tasty, versatile and easy to make. (We usually make it in a microwave rice cooker). The other day we made some to go with a rotisserie chicken and we made enough so we would have some left over for another use. That "future use" turned out to be a ground beef soup.

We bought another package of ground beef and before we froze it, we took some of the beef and the liquid from the cooking and used it as a base for a soup. We also added some onions, celery and carrots, plus a bit of seasoning and some quinoa.

This dish came together in minutes, it has some solid nutritional value and it sure was tasty! Having the right ingredients around speeds up any food preparation and this is a classic example of that. It also illustrates the value of quinoa as a soup ingredient. Aside from being nutritious and tasty, this also helps make the dish gluten-free for those that have that requirement.

As I said, we are big fans of quinoa and I am pleased to add another fine blog to our list of links: Queen of Quinoa. This is a wonderful blog with lots of great recipes and I hope that you will take the time to visit it.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Costco has Quaker Chewy Granola bars on sale this month in the Coupon Book. Even at full price of $10.99 for a box of sixty, they are a bargain. On sale, they are an absolute steal! They are tasty, easy and quick to eat and they are decent nutritionally. Have a couple of these and add in a banana and you have breakfast for less than 50¢.

Compare this to an Egg McMuffin and you have a huge cost and fat gram savings. Over the course of the year of eating a breakfast like this on the way to work would save you over $500 and over 2300 grams of fat! Plus, you get more fiber, although I will admit an egg is a great source of protein.

Also, these are easy to store in your car for a breakfast on the go and it saves you the hassle of stopping at a drive through to get breakfast.

Thus, you save massive amounts of:

Time

Money

Fat

I highly recommend these granola bars and if you eat breakfast on your way to work or school, these are a fantastic option.

Saturday, September 1, 2012

While we primarily buy our food at Costco to take home, we also often like to get a snack or a quick lunch before we head home. Not too long ago, Costco added a hot turkey and provolone sandwich to their food court menu. Anything with hot melted cheese sounds good to me, so I had to try one!

This is a good sandwich. The choice of bread for this works very well in terms of flavor, texture and construction of the sandwich. I am definitely glad that they chose a bread that makes the process of eating this sandwich relatively neat.

The quality of the ingredients used in the sandwich are certainly up to par and that really helps to make this a success. I like that they added the tomato, that made really helps make it seem like more of meal than just a couple of pieces of bread with some meat and cheese.

Finally, choosing turkey and provolone for the meat and cheese is a good idea. Turkey goes well with provolone but it is considered a healthier meat, so people will feel less guilty about eating it.

I enjoyed the sandwich and I will order it again, but the one negative is that at $3.99 it is not as good a value as the hot dog or the pizza by the slice. However, It is still a good value and a great change of pace.